purge -
rid of impurities; "purge the water"; "purge your mind"
make pure,
purify,
distill,
sublimate remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation; "purify the water"
purge -
oust politically; "Deng Xiao Ping was purged several times throughout his lifetime"
rehabilitate help to readapt, as to a former state of health or good repute; "The prisoner was successfully rehabilitated"; "After a year in the mental clinic, the patient is now rehabilitated"
persecute,
oppress cause to suffer; "Jews were persecuted in the former Soviet Union"
purge -
eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth; "After drinking too much, the students vomited"; "He purged continuously"; "The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night"
modify,
alter,
change make less severe or harsh or extreme; "please modify this letter to make it more polite"; "he modified his views on same-gender marriage"
spiritualise,
spiritualize purify from the corrupting influences of the world; "During his stay at the ashram he was spiritualized"
lustrate purify by means of a ritual; also used in post-Communist countries to refer to the political cleansing of former officials
purge -
rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid; "flush the wound with antibiotics"; "purge the old gas tank"
A purge is the removal of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, from another organization, or from society as a whole. Purges can be peaceful or violent; many will end with the imprisonment or exile of those purged, but in some cases they will simply be removed from office. Restoring people who have been purged is known as rehabilitation.
